Oregon Health & Science University professor, Judith Gedney Baggs, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Elizabeth N. Gray Distinguished Professor, School of Nursing, and Associate Director in the Center for Ethics in Health Care, has been notified that she has received Federal Stimulus funding.

Oregon Health & Science University professor, Judith Gedney Baggs, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Elizabeth N. Gray Distinguished Professor, School of Nursing, and Associate Director in the Center for Ethics in Health Care, has been notified that she has received Federal Stimulus funding of $383,980 to study end-of-life decision making in the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 2 years from March 2010 to March 2012. ICUs are important sites to study because 20% of Americans who die, die during or shortly after an ICU stay. Patients often are unable to participate in any decision making about continuing or limiting treatments. Shared decision making is generally agreed to be the best model for decisions, however there is evidence that the decision making often is not shared. Dr. Baggs will focus on the roles of the key persons involved (patients, family members, physicians, and nurses) and the inter-relationships of these persons. Her previous work about cultural differences among different types of ICUs (medical, surgical, cardiovascular, and burn/trauma) was published in the Journal of Critical Care in 2007.